Hope you are doing well. I believe you are rested up after the Thanksgiving celebration. I also believe that the Thanksgiving was a great one for all of you.

Now from the next week we will be starting another new liturgical year. We start it with the period of expectation, which is Advent. Let us all join in prayers and reconciliation to wait for the coming of the Lord Jesus. I would like to invite you all to make your confessions to have a meaningful and fruitful celebration of the Christmas.

Once there was a man who owned a horse. Due to some reasons, he wanted to sell his horse. So, he went to a merchant and asked for help as to how to sell it. The man asked him to take the horse to the market and sell it. But the owner asked the merchant to help him with a small speech which he can deliver about the horse and the people would listen to him and buy the horse. The merchant wrote for him a ‘sale speech’. That went like this: Hey folks I am here to sell my horse. This is an Arabian horse and it is strong and gentle. It can carry any heavy load and it is good too for children to have rides on. This horse will obey your orders immediately and would understand you well. If you own this horse, he will be a good companion for you.

When the owner heard the speech written by the merchant about his horse, his eyes shone brightly and said to himself, ‘Oh! My horse is so good! Why then should I sell it? I won’t sell it’. Saying thus to himself he took his horse and went home happily that he owned such a good and valiant horse.

Most of the times this happens in our lives too. We do not understand or realize the value of something when we own it. The value of a friend, we do not realize until we lose him/her. The blessing of the parents/grandparents is not understood until they are lost. This is also the same in our Christian life. We do not understand the value of being a Christian. We do not value our Christian faith, we do not value our Catholic identity, we do not value the celebration of the Holy Mass, we do not value the celebration of the Sacraments, we do not value the reading of the Scriptures, we do not value the praying of the Rosary, we do not value the practices of devotion, we do not value the gift of the reconciliation, we do not even sometimes value the fact that we have Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

This is not to find fault with, but to make a good retrospection. This is a self-inspection and examination of our Christian life. Let us realize the gift of being a Catholic and may we express it by living more Christian and Catholic.God bless you all.Sincerely yours in Christ Jesus,Fr. A. Antony

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Pastor's ColumnPosted here is the weekly column featured in the bulletin of Saint Mary, Saint Michael & Saint Kilian parishes.